Election Day
by MadScientistGirl
Summary: COMPLETE. Doug is running for re-election for Sheriff for the first time after coming out to Capeside. The results are in! Please read and review. Thanks!
1. The Night Before

Authors Note: I have always loved Doug, cause he was always quiet, but occasionally did or said something completely awesome. I was really happy that the series finale paired him up with Jack, another favorite character of mine. I began this story, fittingly, on November 2, but then life got crazy and I couldn't finish it. Hope you enjoy this story! I would appreciate any comments you have, but it is my first fan fiction ever, so please be kind.

Disclaimer: Don't own them, don't sue.

Timeline: set about a year and a half after the series finale.

Chapter 1: The night before

It was after midnight, and Doug was alone in the Capeside sheriff's office. All of the deputies had either finished off their paperwork and gone home for the day, or had donned their uniforms and headed out for evening patrol. Doug sat at his desk, looking around at the office that had been his for the last 2 years, ever since his father had retired and he had been elected the town sheriff. He had told Jack that he was going in to the office to work on some paperwork, and Jack had smiled, accepting the lie, knowing that Doug needed this time alone.

The outcome of tomorrow's election could change the rest of their lives. If he lost his bid for re-election as sheriff, where would they go? He hated the thought of leaving Capeside, where he had lived his whole life. Leaving his family, his friends, and the big house on the Creek that he and Jack had been renovating together for the last year. The house that had become their home, where they had become a family with the addition of their daughter, Amy. How could he ask Jack to leave his job at Capeside High, where he was already one of the students' favorite teachers? Yet all this might all be necessary if he lost the election. He knew he couldn't continue to work as a deputy under the new sheriff, even if Roy Carter would have been willing to hire him. Which he wasn't.

Carter was a former New York police officer, who had retired from the force at age 50 and had moved to Capeside to enjoy his early retirement. Shortly after, he had announced his plans to campaign for Sheriff of Capeside, an election that had not been seriously contested any time in the last 20 years. In his campaign, he insisted that the police force in Capeside were not tough enough, and that Doug was too young for the responsibility of being Capeside's sheriff. He also spent a lot of time talking about "family values", a sly way of insinuating that Doug was unfit because he was gay. Carter was careful to never say this directly, but Doug suspected that the sudden interest in running for sheriff was more to do with Doug's sexual orientation than a real desire to improve Capeside.

"Family values" Doug said to the empty office, picking up the picture that had been on the corner of his desk for the last couple of months. It was a portrait of Jack, Doug and Amy, and somehow the photographer had managed to capture the love between the two men, as well as their love for their child. "How can this not be a perfect example of family values?" he asked as he stared down into the faces of the two most precious people to him. He could still remember the day when Jack and Amy had moved into the house he had been renovating for the last two years, and it was then that they had truly become a family.

He was so lost in though that he never noticed the door to his office swing open, and he looked up in surprise when he heard Jack say, "I thought I would find you here."

Doug looked up and smiled at his lover, before he frowned in concern. "Where's Amy?" he asked.

"Home. In bed. Where you should be," replied Jack. "Pacey came over to watch her while I came looking for you."

Doug set the picture back down in its customary place before standing up and walking over to Jack, who reached out to pull him into a tight embrace. As Doug rested his head on Jack's shoulder, he felt the tension of the past few hours drain away. They stood together for some time, before Jack whispered, "do you ever regret coming out to Capeside?"

Doug pulled back so he could stare into they younger man's eyes, "no---never. When I said that I was proud to stand out with you, I meant it. I still do." He thought about that time in his life, when he had decided to no longer be ashamed of being gay and of his relationship with Jack. From that day on, they had refused to hide their relationship. They would often walk around town holding hands, and occasionally kiss in public. Just the sort of stuff every couple enjoyed. They still occasionally got funny looks when they were out together, but most people seemed to be content keeping their opinions to themselves. "I am just worried because for the first time, the people of Capeside are deciding whether to elect an openly gay sheriff, and I don't know what their choice is going to be. People don't say anything about us, but maybe they would rather not have a gay sheriff, and maybe that's more important than the fact that I've lived here all my life and Roy Carter is relatively new in town."

"Doug, you are a great sheriff, and I think the people of Capeside appreciate it. You know practically everyone in town, and are always there to help out when they need it. You can tell when some kid is starting to head down the wrong path, and you know when to intervene. I think all of that matters more to the people of Capeside than your sexual orientation," said Jack, praying that he was correct. "Roy Carter could never be as good of a sheriff as you are."

Doug looked up with hope in his eyes, "I hope you are right."

"Now come on-let's go home," said Jack. "Pacey is probably wondering what happened to us."

To Be Continued...


	2. Not an Ordinary Day

Election Day

Authors Note: Thank you to everyone who read and commented on my fic. I really appreciate it. Phoenix - I believe that in some towns, sheriffs are elected, especially in small towns. As for why I have never written anything before: Well, I have been dreaming up fanfic all my life, making up stories with my favorite characters from TV shows and movies. In fact, my parents insist that my imaginary friend when I was very little was Mr. Rogers. Only recently did I discover that people wrote the stuff down and posted it for others. (I know, what rock have I been living under?) Even then, I just read fan fiction, but never thought I could actually write it. Then I decided, what the heck, why not give it a try, and this story was the result.

Dedication: to all the people who have reviewed my story and to M.L., my best friend, who convinced me to actually post my story here.

Disclaimer: Don't own them, don't sue.

Chapter 2: Not an Ordinary Day

The next morning, Doug opened his eyes a few minutes before the alarm was set to go off. Sometime during the night, their positions had reversed and Doug awoke to find his head pillowed on Jack's chest. Somehow all of the dark fears and uncertainty of the previous night had evaporated with the morning light, and he was left with a feeling of peace. For a few minutes, he lay there, enjoying the intimacy of being able to listen to Jack's heartbeat. He finally stretched up to kiss Jack, and as Jack's eyelids fluttered open, the alarm clock began to ring.

"How can you manage to wake up before the alarm rings?" Jack mumbled.

"How can you never wake up early?" Doug replied. "Besides, I like to be the one to wake you up." It was a conversation that replayed itself in some form at least two or three times a week.

In short order, the morning routine of showers and coffee had been completed, and it was time to wake up Amy. Doug fed her breakfast as Jack finished getting ready to head off to school. After kissing Doug and Amy on his way out the door, Jack turned back to ask, "what time will you be home tonight?"

Doug replied, "Shift ends at nine, so probably around 9:15 PM." He watched as Jack drove down the street before turning to Amy, "so kiddo – how about you and me going to the park?"

As he pushed her on the swings, he reflected on how much he enjoyed the days when he began work at noon, giving him a few hours to spend with Amy, just the two of them.

All too soon, it was time to drop her off at daycare and head to work, with a short detour to the Capeside high school gym, where he stopped to cast his vote. It seemed a bit narcissistic to vote for himself, but in this election, he figured he might need every vote he could get.

As Doug entered the station, he was greeted by Jim, the most senior of the deputies and Holly, who worked in the front office. Their greetings were as warm as usual, but he could detect an undercurrent of tension, which was understandable, seeing how this election would determine who would be their boss. It was a relief to put on his uniform and head out on patrol. As he drove around the streets of the town where he had lived his entire life, he could relax and forget the fact that today was election day.

As Doug drove down the street, he saw Evie Wilkins standing at the side of the road with her walker. Doug frowned, knowing that even though it had been 8 months since she had fallen and broken her hip, standing for long periods of time was still painful for the 85-year-old woman. He pulled over to the curb and got of the patrol car. "Mornin' Mrs. Wilkins. Are you waiting for someone?" he asked.

She looked anxiously up the street, as if someone or something would magically appear, "Dial-A-Ride was supposed to be here 15 minutes ago, and I need to go pick up a prescription at the pharmacy."

He walked around to open the passenger-side door, saying, "Well, the criminals of Capeside seem to be on vacation today, so why don't I give you a ride." He helped her into the car, and they set off towards Dalton's Pharmacy, where he had taken her once before to pick up her heart medication.

The rode in companionable silence for a few blocks until she suddenly said, "the other day, that nice Mrs. Carter brought me homemade cookies."

Doug groaned, thinking about how Roy Carter and his wife were retired, leaving them with plenty of time for campaigning. Jack, Pacey and all of their friends had pitched in as best they could, but they were all busy with their own jobs and families. Without thinking, he replied, "well, my boyfriend would have baked cookies if it would have helped, but trust me, you wouldn't want to eat them!"

When he saw the look of confusion on Evie's face, he realized he had just outed himself to one of Capeside's little old ladies. On election day, no less! It always amazed him when he realized that there were probably a lot of people in Capeside that had no idea he was gay. When he had come out, the news hadn't created the uproar he had expected. He had never been a big fan of public displays of affection, and so there were probably people in Capeside that had still had no idea that he was gay. Most people seemed to be wrapped up in their own lives and there own personal dramas that they rarely took the time to observe the world around them. Sometimes he wondered if it wouldn't have been easier to take out a full page add in the Capeside Gazette proclaiming, "Sheriff Doug is GAY". At least he could avoid situations like he found himself it presently.

Before he could think of something to say, Evie asked, "What's wrong with Jack's cookies? It's not like cookies are that hard to make!" she exclaimed.

With a start, Doug realized she had known all along about him and Jack. With a laugh, he explained, "Jack is a wonderful man with a lot of talents, but cooking is not one of them." He glanced over at his passenger, his eyes crinkling at the corners as he smiled. "I used to think he was just trying to get out of cooking by claiming to be terrible at it. Then I saw him in action. He really is bad. He confuses tablespoons and teaspoons, he forgets key ingredients. Something always seems to go wrong. Therefore I do all of the cooking."

When they reached the pharmacy, she smiled back at him, before reaching over to pat his hand. "Don't worry dear, cookies have nothing to do with the ability to be a good Sheriff." He helped her out of the car, and then escorted her into the drugstore.

As he waited for Evie to pick up her medication, he browsed the aisles. As he greeted other customers, he found that he was scrutinizing their reactions, trying to gauge their responses. Would they have voted for him? Were their greetings only polite? By the time Evie was finished, many of the doubts of the previous night had come rushing back.

Doug was silent as he drove Evie back to the retirement complex where she lived. Luckily, responses were not really necessary as she talked about her grandson starting kindergarten that year. After dropping her off, he realized that he could not face any more members of the community because he could not relax as if this were any other day. He knew he would spend the day mentally trying to tally the votes.

After radioing in his intentions, he drove out to main road passing through town, were the Capeside sheriffs Department often watched for speeding motorists. Most of the locals knew the location of the speed trap, so even if he did pull someone over for speeding, it was more likely to be someone just passing through. As he sat there for the next few hours, he found that he could once again relax and block out the fact that there was an election going on. Some people might think that this duty was extremely tedious, but Doug often found that he enjoyed the time when he could be alone with his thoughts. He also knew that keeping the average speed at a reasonable level on this stretch of road was important, because there was a nasty bend about a mile down the road that often came as a surprise to motorists unfamiliar with the road. In the four hours that he sat with his patrol vehicle parked behind a bush, the closest he came to needing to issue a citation was when the truck from the Potter B B drove past at one mile per hour over the posted speed limit. From his vantage point, it was impossible to tell who was driving the truck.

After stopping at a hamburger joint to pick up dinner, he spent the rest of his shift slowly driving through town. The last few hours seemed to drag on forever; it seemed like his shift would never end. All he could think of was how much he was looking forward to going home, where he could be with Jack and they could wait for the election results to be announced. Waiting for the phone call that could change all of their lives.

To be continued... (one more chapter to go..)


	3. And the winner is

Election Day

Authors Note: Thank you again to everyone who read and commented on my fic. I really appreciate it. I am so sorry that it has taken me forever to update this. I hope you hadn't given up hope. Life got crazy, then I got distracted by other writing projects. Maybe I will be forgiven if I give a hint of my next fanfic: It will be titled "A Year to Remember" and will be my version of how Jack and Doug got together.

Disclaimer: Don't own them, don't sue.

Chapter 3: And the winner is...

It was 8:55 PM. Doug was driving back toward the station house when he got a call on his radio for the first time that day, "Sheriff, there's been a noise complaint down at the Icehouse. I thought that you might want to be the one to handle it."

"Don't worry Holly, I'll check it out" he replied. The restaurant owned by his brother was only a few blocks west of his current location, and he decided that it was probably not necessary to turn on the lights of his patrol vehicle, as thin as the traffic was that time of night.

When he pulled up at the Icehouse, he saw a hand lettered sign taped to the front door, stating that the Icehouse was closed for a private party, which was an unusual occurrence for a Tuesday night in November. Music was coming from inside the restaurant. When he entered, the first thing he saw was a huge banner hung over the bar area that read "We love you Doug!" As he looked around the room, he realized that it contained all of the people who were dearest to him. Jack, who was holding Amy, was almost dead center under the banner. Pacey and his wife Joey were standing next to them. As he looked around the room, he spied his Mom and his sister Gretchen in the corner. At the opposite end of the room, he saw all of his deputies, as well as Holly, who was still holding the portable radio she had used to report the "incident" at the Icehouse. Gale was talking with Bessie and Bodie, and he finally spotted Alexander and Lilly under a table nearby.

As he continued to stand there in shock, Pacey came forward. "It is now 9 PM and you are officially off the clock," he said as he handed over a beer to his stunned brother.

"Did you organize this?" Doug asked throwing an arm around his brother's shoulders.

"Yeah," he admitted. "Jack had mentioned that you were pretty stressed about the election, so I thought that it was important to remind you how many people really care about you."

He tightened his arm to give Pacey a one armed hug, unable to find the words to express his gratitude to his brother, who was also his best friend. As he tried to make his way across the room to where Jack and Amy were, he found his way blocked by many of the townspeople who had come to the party. As he accepted a hug from Evie Wilkins, he looked over to where Jack was standing and mouthed, "I love you." When he saw Jack's reply, it was if they were the only ones in the room.

Eventually he made his way over to where Jack was standing, and after pulling him into a fierce embrace, pounded upon the bar with an empty bottle to get everyone's attention. "I wanted to thank all of you for coming tonight. Your support really means a lot to me. Many of you have taken time out of your busy lives to donate your time these past months to pass out fliers and go door to door talking with people. You have all been amazing. A few years ago, I never would have thought that all of you would be here supporting me."

He reached out to take Jack's hand in his. "Jack, you have given me the courage to be myself, and I have never regretted that decision. Our life together, with Amy, has been better than I could have ever imagined." He looked out across the room, still holding Jack's hand. "Seeing everybody here, I realize how lucky I am. No matter what the outcome of the election, this has been one of the happiest nights of my life." He smiled out at the room full of people, hoping that his words would convey the gratitude he was feeling.

His gaze fell upon the table where all of his deputies gathered, and his smile turned into a grin. "Of course, some of you had better hope that I win the election, because if Roy Carter finds out that none of Capeside's finest appear to be on duty tonight, some of you may be out of jobs tomorrow morning," he said with mock seriousness. All of his officers laughed after failing to look contrite for neglecting their duty.

He turned to find Pacey standing next to him with the cordless phone in his hand. "It's the Mayor," he said, handing over the phone. Suddenly the room became very quiet, as everyone strained to hear the voice on the other end of the line.

Doug listened, intently, his face expressionless. "Thank you for letting me know, Mr. Mayor." He disconnected the call, and looked around the room at all of the people waiting with anticipation for the news. "All of the votes have been counted, and I have been re-elected with over 80 of the vote." After a moment of stunned silence due to the overwhelming victory margin, everyone broke into cheers. The cheering became even louder when everyone saw the normally reserved sheriff sweep Jack into a passionate embrace.

After that, it seemed as if everyone in the room wanted to congratulate him, pulling him into a hug or shaking his hand. About an hour later, the party was finally starting to break up, and Doug found himself next to Pacey for the first time since the Mayor's call. For a minute they stood watching the remaining partygoers. After a minute, Pacey remarked, "I wish Dad could have been here tonight."

Their father had often been demanding and somewhat abrasive most of the time, but Doug found that he often missed his father, who had died almost four years ago, shortly after Doug had been elected Sheriff for the first time. He often wondered what his father would have thought about his life with Jack and Amy, and his leadership of the Capeside Sheriff's department.

As if he could read Doug's thoughts, Pacey continued, "He would have been proud of you."

Doug looked across the room, where Jack had gathered up a sleeping Amy and was preparing to head home. He smiled as he watched the two of them. "I think so, too", he said, and for maybe the first time, really believed that it might be true. He reached over to give Pacey a hug. "Thank you again for having the party" before he walked over to Jack and Amy. "Let's go home."


End file.
